Does 1megapixel really mean 1million pixels?

Answer 1

The term "One megapixel" does really mean 1 000 000 pixels yes.

Where the debate starts is over precisely the number of pixels used to capture the actual image.

With any digital sensor not all pixels are used to record the actual image, some have other jobs. Some may be used to measure the amount of light coming into the camera so that the camera can control the exposure. Other pixels may be used to sort out the focus.

So a sensor with 6 000 000 pixels in it may only record an image with say 5 800 000 pixels.

For this reason most reputable camera manufacturers make a sensor with say 6 300 000 pixels and use 6 000 000 of them to record the image. For this they may use the term "effective pixels" or "recorded pixels". Sadly sometimes even though the camera manufacturer is reputable some dodgy resellers will claim that this is a 6.3 MP camera.

At the end of the day, this difference between actual and effective pixels is not huge and will not noticeably affect the quality of the recorded image.

Answer 2

Sure does. And a 'typical' camera these days has over 7 mega pixels. Additionally- the data get spit out in three colors per pixel (after processing) and 8 bits per color (if in JPEG, 12 bits if in RAW for most cameras).

So- a single 7 Mp image has 7M x 8 x 3 or 168 Million bits of information. Of course, that gets compressed down to ~3 Million bytes of information, as most of the subtle level differences aren't visible. Nevertheless, it gives you an appreciation of how much data and processing is done in your average $200 digital camera. The technology is truly amazing!

Answer 3

1 Megapixel sensor = a matrix of 1000x1000 pixels. (this is 1:1 ratio but a regular ratio is 4:3 or 3:2)

Now ...you must understand ..this is pure mathematics. In reality a sensor can have 1 Megapixel but the effective area of that sensor can be much smaller.

check this: http://www.dpreview.com/learn/?/Glossary/Camera_System/effective_pixels_01.htm

Answer 4

Yes and no but however you calculate it its sort of true and not worth getting to hung up about unless its a camera phone

Answer 5

no because if u see nokia says its 3.2 mp cellphone, but if u do calculations, then it will b definately some what less, as i observed for more than 10 products.

& it is the truth.

Answer 6

Yes.